Desk hinge



- Sept. 29, 1925.

E. C. AMSDEN DESK HINGE Filed May 28, 1925 v V f/V 7051 Patent'ed Sept. 29, 1925. Y

UNITED STATES PATENT orFice.

. EUGENE C. MEN, OF BOSTON, IASSACHU SETTS, ASSIGNOB TO CHARLES C. xmmmr,

' r OI WESTON, KASSACHUSETTS.

.nrsx amen Application fled an as, 1928. Serial no. sales.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enenfin C. AMSDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in thecounty of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desk Hinges, of which the following is a speciii cation.

The invention to be hereinafter described 19 relates to hinges for connecting the cover to the body of a desk and for other uses.

' In the school room the pupils are liable to swing their desk covers open to their limits and allow them to drop and close with objectionable noise.

@ne 0:? the purposes of the present invention, therefore, is to rovide a desk hinge which has simple an eflicient means for yieldingly resisting the swinging of the desk cover, thereby to prevent slamming of the same to its open and closed positions;

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description of one good form thereof 5 shown in the accompanying drawing, where- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a desk provided with a hinge embodying the invention, a portion of the side of the 39 desk being broken away to disclose the bin 8; p

F ig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the relation of the members of the hinge when the desk cover is open;

3 is a perspective view of the hinge: t

Flg. 4- is a sectional detail taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of portions of the hinge members, the spring and the '49 bolt, said parts being shown separated to disclose the form thereof.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a portion of the body of a desk provided with a top board 3 and a cover 5 which is connected to the body of the desk by a pair of hinges embodying the invention, but since these hinges are similar in construction, it will sufiice to show and describe merely one of them. This hinge comprises a member or plate 7 of general segmental form having a flange 9 projecting transversely from the plate and provided with a pair of holes 11 adapted to be described. To assist in the secure respring, thereby to establish friction to reto receive screws 13 for securiiig said late to the under face of the top board 0 the desk. Projecting from the late 7 is a tongue 15 provided with a pair of holes 17 adapted to receive screws 19 for securing the tongue tothe inner face of one of the sides of the body of the desk. Lugs 19, 21 and 23 project transverselyfrom the plate "at edges thereof in a direction" op osite to the flange 9 for spacing the plate rom-the side of the body of the desk for a purpose 'tention of the, plate 7 to the body of the desk, the end of the tongue 15 may have :1 prong 25 projecting therefrom, and the lug 23 may have a prong 27 projecting there from. When the plate 7 is applied to the side of the desk, the prongs 25 and 27 will be forced therein, as will be readily understood.

A plate 29 of general segmental form. has a flange 31 projecting transversely therefrom and provided with holes 33 adapted to receive screws 35 for securing the flange to the under face of the desk cover. The plate 29 has a projection 37 which overlaps a proection 39 on the plate 7, said projections eing provided with registering holes through which .is entered a hinge rivet 41. The projections 37 and 39 on the plates may occupy a kerf in the top board of the desk. To limit the opening movement of the cover. the plate 29 maybe provided with a book 43 for engagement with the lug -23 referred Next will be described the means for establishing friction to resist pivotal movement of the'cover plate 29 relatively-to the body plate 7. This means. in the present instance of the invention. comprises an arouate slot 45 in the plate 29 and concentric with the hinge rivet 41. The plate 7 has a hole 47 therein registering with the arcuate slot. A leaf spring 49 is interposed between the plates, and has a hole 51 for registration with the slot 45 and the hole 47. A bolt 55 or equivalent element is entered through the arcuate slot, the spring hole 51 and the hole 47, the construction being such that when the nut 57 is tightened, it will press the plates toward each other. and tension th I05 sist plvotal movementof the cover plate relatively to the body plate. The spring may have a lip 59 for engagement with an edge 61 of the body plate, thereby to prevent the spring from turning on the s ank of the bolt. To prevent the nut 57 from workln loose, the shank of the bolt may have fiat aces 63 for engagement with fiat faces of the hole The construction is such that when the coveris swung to open and closed positions,

the arcuate slot will slide along the shank of the bolt, and the spring which is tensioned as described, will press against the cover plate and establish friction which opposes the rocking movement of the plate about the pivot rivet 41. The spring When it assumws its natural form is slightly bent or curved, as will be noted in Fig. 5, but when the bolt is tightened, it is flattened somewhat. The bolt may be adjusted and tightened to vary the'tension of the spring to provide more or less friction as desired.

The friction may be suflicient to hold the cover in any position of adjustment between its open and closed positions, and the friction may be such that it will prevent any possibility of the cover slamming to open .and closed positions.

The lugs 19, 21 and 23 referred to, prevent the cover plate from wiping against the inner face of the side of the desk, and provide a space between the body plate and the side of the desk for receiving the bolt head and washer.

Preferably the arcuate slot 45 in the cover plate is of suchlength that one of the ends thereof will not engage the bolt and limit the opening movement of the cover.

The movable plate 29 of the hinge is protected by the fixed plate so that the former is not liable to come into injurious contact with articles within the desk. Also, since the spring is interposed between the plates of the hinge, it is covered and protected thereby. The nut of the bolt is readily accessible fromthe inside of the body of the desk for the purpose of varying the tension of the spring as desired.

By my invention there is provided a hinge which has simple and efficient means for providing friction yieldingly to resist pivotal movement of one of the hinge plates relatively to the other. The plates may be stamped out of sheet metal, and the partsof glliedhinge may be quickly .and easily assem- It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departin from the spirit and scope of the appends claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A desk hinge com rising, in combination. a pair of pivota ly connected plates having provision for connection with arts to be hinged together, one of said p ates having an arc uate slot therein, and the other of said plates having a hole therein, a leaf spring interposed between said plates and having a hole therein, and a bolt entered through said slot and holes for pressing the plates toward each other and tensioning the spring, thereby to establish friction to resist pivotal movement of one of said members relatively to the other member.

2. A combination hinge and friction device comprising, in com ination, a pair of plates having provision for connection with parts to be hinged together, said plates having portions pivotally connected, one of said plates having an arcuate slot therein and the other of said plates having a hole therein registering with said slot, spring means interposed between said lates, and an element entered through said s ot and hole and act-- ing on said plates to hold the spring means in tension thereby to establish friction yieldingly to resist swinging of one of said plates about their point of pivotal connection.

3. A desk hinge comprising, in combination, a pair of pivotally connected members having provision for connection with parts to be hinged together, one of said members having an arcuate slot concentric with the point of pivotal connection of said members, and the other of said members having a hole therein re istering with said slot, a'

spring interpose between said plates and having a hole therein, a bolt entered through said slot and holes for pressing the members toward each other to tension the spring, thereby to establish frictional resistance to pivotal movement of one of said members relatively to the other member, one of said members having lugs projecting therefrom to prevent the other member and the'bolt from engaging the surface of the part to which the member having the lugs is secured.

4:. A desk hinge comprising, in combination, a pair of pivotally connected plates having provision for connecting them with parts to be hinged together, one of said members having an arcuate slot therein, and the other of said members having a hole therein, a leaf spring interposed between said members and having a hole therein, and a bolt entered through said slot and holes for tensioning the s ring to cause the same to press against t e members, said leaf spring having a lip enga g an edge of one of the members to preven the spring from turning on the bolt.

5. A desk hinge comprising, in combination, a pair of pivotally connected members having provision for connecting them with parts to be hinged together, one of said members having an arcuate slot therein and the other of said members having a hole therein, a leaf spring interposed between said members and having a hole therein, and a bolt entered through said slot and holes for pressing the plates toward each other to tension the spring, thereby to establish friction to resist pivotal movement of one of said members relatively to the other member, said bolt and the hole in the member havin flat faces to prevent the bolt from turning to loosen its nut.

6 A desk hinge comprising, in combination, a pair of 'pivotally connected plates having provision for connecting them with parts to be hinged together, one of said plates having an arcuate slot therein and the other of said plates having a hole therein, a leaf spring interposed between said plates and having a hole therein, and a bolt entered through said slot and holes for pressing the plates toward each other to cause the spring to press against one of the plates, thereby to establish friction to resist pivotal movement of said plate relatively to the other plate, one of said plates being bent to present an offset portion providing a space'between the plates for receiving the leaf iii i cih'nn o AMSDEN 

